Fish where the fish are

I had a great conversation with a smart marketer this week. We were talking about getting people into his business. We talked about how the majority of his business were males. Should we work on getting the females more interested or maximize his core audience.

I will always say focus on the core. Here is the old example that says a lot about this topic. A lot of advertising reps will approach restaurants and ask them to identify their weakest day. Then they put a plan on to help that day.

So if Tuesday is their weakest day we have to convince people to

1. Eat out on Tuesday.
2. Then go to the restaurant.

or we focus on Friday or Saturday where more people are already going out and now we have to convince them to come to the restaurant. Let's fish where the fish are.

To me, it's like taking an employee and always focusing on improving their weaknesses. We help them improve their weakness a little. While we could be helping them improve their strengths a lot.

Happy Fishing!

Don't be annoying!

I was watching the Card - Mets game on Saturday.

As usual, some clown was in the second row talking on a cell phone and waving to the camera. You could tell that the person he was talking to was telling him that they saw him on TV. After a while, I began to feel sorry for the guy. Then I thought about how many commercials are in the same mode. Here is what I mean:

1. They just want people to see them. They are willing to jump up and down, wave, or whatever it takes to be seen or heard.

2. There is nothing communicated. You can't tell me that much was going on in that conversation except - what do you see now? Can you see me? Look I'm waving.

3. It is more annoying than anything else.

So this week, check out your commercials and see if they have more in common with the guy on the cell phone. Hopefully they don't.

You may be afraid to do this.

This week, I want to grade your advertising messages. Give it a 1-10 on the following criteria.


1. Explaining what the product/service will do for the end user.
2. Ad speak – what phrases are in your marketing that you would never say to your friends?
3. Timely. Are you talking summer, spring, fall, or winter?

The time you take to finish this assignment will help you improve the return on your investment. Good Luck.

How are you on making the difficult decisions?

Part of good marketing is having the right team on the right job at the right time. Sometimes good people are trying to do the right job with the wrong skill sets. That is when the difficult decisions need to be made.

It is important that we remember that these decisions strongly effect our marketing efforts. When we are asking people to do a job that is outside of their skill sets it hurts them, our team, and ultimately our efforts. Especially when they are dealing with the customers.

Is there a tough decision that you need to make this week? Chances are the decision has been made. You just need to act on that decision. Remember, marketing is so much more than just advertising and packaging. Have a great week.